Muslim “ghost charities” give $200m to Taliban

December 12, 2012

Arab states and the Gulf Cooperation Council are behind multi-million dollar zakat donations through Islamic shell charities to fund jihad in Afghanistan and Pakistan, according to an Afghan analyst. Of course, this is how Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and 9/11 were funded in the first place, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise to regular readers of this blog.

But isn’t it noteworthy that 11 years after the terrorist attacks against New York City and Washington, D.C., that the Taliban is getting just as much money from the same old sources and the same old methods as it always has? Attempts to bankrupt the Taliban have been an utter failure.

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have blown smoke in our diplomats’ faces, promised reforms that have never fully materialized, and created nice policies against terrorist financing on paper while simultaneously serving as the world’s ratline for funding jihad. Disgraceful.

Terror funds linked to shady charities

HUNDREDS of millions of dollars a year are being channelled into the hands of the Taliban – much of it from the Gulf, an expert told the GDN yesterday.

Shady charities in the GCC continue to funnel cash to Afghanistan to fund insurgents, said Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies director Haroun Mir.

He accused Gulf countries of not doing enough to monitor bogus charity operations, which he accused of filling terrorists’ coffers with cash to buy weapons, equipment and conduct operations.

“The Taliban gets $200 million a year to carry out its activities and recruit young people to spread terror across the world,” he said on the sidelines of the Manama Dialogue, which ended yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain Hotel and Spa.

“This huge amount of money is coming from somewhere and one main channel is bogus charities in GCC and Arab states, which collect funds that are used for illegal activities instead of noble causes.”

Mr Mir said people in the region were being conned into parting with their money by those misinterpreting Islam.

“Terrorists are using narratives based on grievances of people and misinterpreting Islam,” he said.

“The funds are flowing via ghost charities.”

The Muslim faith requires followers to make donations to the needy as part of an Islamic tax, known as “Zakat”.

However, Mr Mir said there was still no official authority that monitored where the money was going.

“Nobody has an idea where this money goes as it is being used by extremist groups to purchase weapons or recruit suicide bombers,” he claimed.

He argued a central body was needed to oversee and manage the large amounts of money collected through Zakat in GCC and Arab countries to ensure it was not directed to questionable causes.

Mr Mir also warned nations in the region against radicalising their own people by demonising other countries.

“If we look closely in the region, Saudi Arabia is radicalising some of its people to deal with the threat from Iran,” he said.

“They are creating one problem to get rid of another.

“Things are boiling under the surface and it’s important for Saudi Arabia to play a bigger role in the region.”

He added Afghanis-tan and Pakistan were suffering as a direct result of the Arab world’s failure to combat sectarianism.

Policies

“Pakistan and my country, Afghanistan, are clear examples of states that are dealing with the problem of terrorism every day,” he said.

“They are victims of poor policies by GCC and Arab states to deal head on with radicalisation.”

The eighth International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Regional Security Summit: The Manama Dialogue 2012 took place over three days under the patronage of His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander.